Constructive Action Plan, Coursework Example

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the therapeutic sessions and outcomes regarding the one on one skills relationship and to provide the history of the relationship with its negative or positive role with the agency and community. The relationship discussed herein is between Antonio and his therapist, Tracey Witcher. Antonio is a 17- year old inner-city African American youth who was referred to an alternative behavior program due to robbing a woman to buy marijuana. Antonio has a distant relationship with his mother and is the second eldest child of 10 children in a single-parent home with his mother being the head of household. Antonio was referred to the program as a means of fulfilling his legal obligation to society. After successful completion of the program, he will be able to return to his home.

In the therapeutic relationship, the purpose of the therapist is to gather information from the client during the interviews in order to help Antonio gain an understanding of the issues that he is facing, or attempting to address. After assessing the client, the Tracey would then inform Antonio of his diagnosis and then try and help him understand this evaluation of his problems or issues so that they can develop a plan to address the issues in a way that will enable Antonio to have success in achieving his goals. Evaluation is a method of assessment used to see if the client is staying on schedule towards accomplishing their goals and if milestones are being met in the time frame that the client and psychologist has set (Sorte, Daeschel, & Amador, 2011). One way that the client will be evaluated is through our weekly counseling sessions. He will report his success and failures in achieving his goals and the problems that he is having while trying to achieve these goals.

The initial session will incorporate identifying antecedents and identifying consequences so that Antonio can first come to understand the reason for the assessment and explain why it is important to identify the events that have contribute to his problem, or antecedents, and the events that influence his current problems, or consequences. This will help him understand that if he does not change his way of thinking, then his behavior will not change, so the consequences of his behaviors will be the same, and he will end up going to prison, not just a juvenile detention center. From a psychological standpoint because of Antonio’s age, it may be more suitable to use a behavioral approach. Behavior therapy is defined as a process through which an individual or group focuses on changing undesirable behaviors. It also involves identifying objectionable, maladaptive behaviors and replacing them with healthier types of behavior (Corey, 2009). By using this therapy it will help the client see that behavior therapy can be an effective and important coping skill for dealing with everyday problems and concerns.

The primary skill techniques used following the initial session were exploration and behavior monitoring. In order to help Antonio work through the issues causing him to exhibit behavioral problems, a series of exploratory sessions regarding the changes in his appearance and whether the changes he made was positive or negative will help him to figure out the best ways to express his feelings in healthy ways. Antonio stated the changes were positive for him and he feels good about himself. Antonio also stated that he felt really good; especially coming out of the shell he was in. He also stated that he liked working with a therapist, and was starting to feel comfortable. These expressions were demonstrations of emotions, which was something Antonio was not able to do before, and showed the progress being made through the exploratory method. Antonio was given the task to write about things he liked about himself, his school and classmates. As part of the behavior monitoring approach, observations were recorded during the session and Antonio appeared more relaxed, pulling himself forward across the table to be more engaged in the conversation. He was unconcerned about the other groups playing basketball while he was having his session. Antonio stated that he liked having sessions, which was helping him to feel stronger mentally and physically. He stated he had not felt this good since he was a child. The sessions appeared to be serving as an excellent tool for Antonio.

He has shown improvement in various skills and tactics such as listening, statement rephrasing, body language observation, and reflection, which have all been used by Antonio to express himself effectively. These tactics allowed issues to be revealed that Tracey was able to highlight and help him build upon. The successful execution of qualitative therapeutic treatment requires the practitioner to take into consideration what their clients are thinking, feeling, and doing, and design a comprehensive system of care that will allow all of these needs and aspects to be addressed. While the issues related to Antonio’s difficulties are not unique, the source of the problematic thoughts, experiences, and emotional reactions are singular to each person and must be assessed and treated as a distinctive attribute, but in the context of how it relates to his relationships and ability to successfully and positively interact with the people in his life.

From a psychological standpoint, the details singular to Antonio’s case deemed it suitable to use cognitive behavior therapy for several of his later sessions. This form of therapy in which the client and therapist form a trusted relationship in order to address and dissect issues causing the client distress. Both therapist and client work together to discover the most pervasive issue and begin addressing that issue first. Because of this, the client develops a respect for the ability of the therapist and trust begins to grow. The client forms a bond with the therapist by acknowledging that his or her primary concern has received attention (Carter, 2011). The goal of Primary skills used in this session was exploration technique to pull information out and to encourage the client to elaborate on things they are comfortable with sharing.

The cognitive behavioural approach helps the analyst steer the patient towards achieving feelings of acceptance, mindfulness, attention, or values to enable them to alter their self-defeating misconceptions so they can create new behavioural schema (Hayes, Vilatte, Levin, & Hildebrandt, 2011). Another therapeutic approach supporting these goals is the family therapy model, which “stresses the importance of understanding individuals in the context of the surroundings that influence their development”, and is why the analyst incorporates elements of familial relationships in the helping sessions (Corey 2009, p.11). Prior to attending therapy, Antonio exhibited many of the carefree behaviors typical of teenage adolescents in that his pants were hanging below his waist and his attitude was very self-destructive. However, following the initial sessions, there was a phase transition in his appearance, behavior, and self-perceptions. He wore a belt and was neatly dressed without prior discussions about his appearance, stating that he was trying to change the way he looked. Antonio stated the changes were positive for him and he felt good about himself and especially good about coming out of the shell he was in. he indicated that he had a positive perception about working with a therapist, and was starting to feel comfortable. He stated he had never been comfortable talking about anything so openly and began to convey that he had ingested paint as a child, which was the reason his speech was slow. He stated the lead from the paint had poisoned his blood stream and he had received special education assistance during his time in school and was teased all through elementary school. The caste discrimination he experienced as a result of being in special education could also be a source of Antonio’s anger issues and feelings

References

Carter, I. (2011). Human behavior in the Social environment. Piscataway: Rutgers: The State University.

Corey, G. (2009). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. (8^th ed.). California: Thomson Higher Education

Hayes, S.C., Villatte, M., Levin, M. & Hildebrandt, M. (2011). Open, aware, and active: Contextual approaches as an emerging trend in the behavioural and cognitive therapies. Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol, 7, pp.1-48. doi: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032210-104449. Retrieved from http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/8446968/1212454009/name/Hayes+et+al.+ARCP+2011.pdf

Sorte, J., Daeschel, I., and Amador, C. 2011. Nutrition, health and safety for young children. New Jersey: Pearson.